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Set I
Bird On The Wire (live Songs Version)
Avalanche (album Bersion)
You Know Who I Am (fragment)
Seems So Long Ago, Nancy (fragment)
Sisters Of Mercy (fragment)
Famous Blue Raincoat (fragment)
One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong (fragment)
About The Band
Encounter With A German Audience
The Partisan (edited)
On The Road & 'do You Listen To Your Own Records'
Tonight Will Be Fine (ending)
Backstage Argument
Passing Through (rehearsal)
Being Chatted Up By A Girl Backstage
Passing Through (live Fragment + Translating The Lyrics)
Interviewer ('can You Tell Me Something About Creativity')
Interviewer (about Last Night's Show In Frankfurt - 'i've Disgraced Myself')
Passing Through (fragment)
Causing A Fight Between Audience And Security
Goodnight ('there's No Point Starting A War')
Passing Through (ending)
Backstage Argument About Technical Fault
Talking To Audience While Crew Try To Fix Fault
Sisters Of Mercy
Complaints From A Concert-goer
Poem - How We Used To Approach The Box Of Changes
Talking About The Success Of Books
I'm The Man Who Wrote Suzanne (improvisation)
Interviewer (why Do People Come To See Me)
Chelsea Hotel #1
Backstage Preparing For Final Show In Jerusalem
Talking To Crowd ('this Is Our Last Concert')
Talking To Crowd (origins Of Bird On The Wire)
Talking To Crowd ('just Wave If You Recognize The Song')
One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong (restarted)
Talking To Crowd (if It Doesn't Get Any Better, We'll Stop And Give You Your Money Back)
Backstage ('i'd Like To Give The People Their Money Back')
Crowd Chanting In Auditorium
Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
So Long, Marianne
Band And Crew Try To Coax Lc Back Onstage For Encore
Talking To Crowd ('we're Too Broken To Go On')
Bird On The Wire (with Bob Johnson)
Avalanche (album Bersion)
You Know Who I Am (fragment)
Seems So Long Ago, Nancy (fragment)
Sisters Of Mercy (fragment)
Famous Blue Raincoat (fragment)
One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong (fragment)
About The Band
Encounter With A German Audience
The Partisan (edited)
On The Road & 'do You Listen To Your Own Records'
Tonight Will Be Fine (ending)
Backstage Argument
Passing Through (rehearsal)
Being Chatted Up By A Girl Backstage
Passing Through (live Fragment + Translating The Lyrics)
Interviewer ('can You Tell Me Something About Creativity')
Interviewer (about Last Night's Show In Frankfurt - 'i've Disgraced Myself')
Passing Through (fragment)
Causing A Fight Between Audience And Security
Goodnight ('there's No Point Starting A War')
Passing Through (ending)
Backstage Argument About Technical Fault
Talking To Audience While Crew Try To Fix Fault
Sisters Of Mercy
Complaints From A Concert-goer
Poem - How We Used To Approach The Box Of Changes
Talking About The Success Of Books
I'm The Man Who Wrote Suzanne (improvisation)
Interviewer (why Do People Come To See Me)
Chelsea Hotel #1
Backstage Preparing For Final Show In Jerusalem
Talking To Crowd ('this Is Our Last Concert')
Talking To Crowd (origins Of Bird On The Wire)
Talking To Crowd ('just Wave If You Recognize The Song')
One Of Us Cannot Be Wrong (restarted)
Talking To Crowd (if It Doesn't Get Any Better, We'll Stop And Give You Your Money Back)
Backstage ('i'd Like To Give The People Their Money Back')
Crowd Chanting In Auditorium
Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye
So Long, Marianne
Band And Crew Try To Coax Lc Back Onstage For Encore
Talking To Crowd ('we're Too Broken To Go On')
Bird On The Wire (with Bob Johnson)
Set II
Set III
Comment
In 1972, during Leonard's tour of Europe and Israel, film maker Tony Palmer shadowed the band, filming live performances and some of the backstage dramas. The film was released in 1974 under the name "Bird on A Wire" (see below for more details on the rarity of this film). The attached files constitute the audio track of this film.
The film (and this audio) shows a number of interesting facets of Cohen's 1972 tour including:
* Cohen trying to go on despite some major failures of audio equipment
* Cohen causing a near riot in the Tel Aviv show when he invites the audience to come closer, but security starts hitting the audience who do so.
* A funny moment when Cohen pours out his heart to an interviewer (about how he disgraced himself at the Frankfurt show) only to discover that the interviewers tape recorder captured none of it.
* A woman trying to pick Cohen up back stage
* Cohen forgetting the words to Suzanne during the first verse, and improvising a song called "I'm The Man Who Wrote Suzanne"
* Crowd members asking for their money back ..
* Cohen so emotionally wasted at the end of a performance that he cannot return for an encore (despite the band coaxing and encouraging him.
The film "Bird on a Wire" premiered on July 5, 1974 in London, but was never broadly distributed. There was a suggestion that Leonard was not happy with the film for various reasons, one of which was that it showed him too emotionally exposed.
It should be noted that the version that premiered (and which this recording is sourced from) was already edited from the original version produced by Palmer, at the instruction of Leonard's lawyer (to remove content that might be seen as controversial).
It is currently believed that neither the film maker nor anybody connected with Leonard Cohen has a copy of the original film, although it was recently discovered that a copy exists in the British National Film Archive. There is also a low-quality n-th generation video copy in circulation (from which a few segments have been posted to YouTube).
If you own an original print, or know someone who does ... I would urge you to try to get in touch with either the film maker or the LC fan community -- many people want this preserved for posterity.
The film (and this audio) shows a number of interesting facets of Cohen's 1972 tour including:
* Cohen trying to go on despite some major failures of audio equipment
* Cohen causing a near riot in the Tel Aviv show when he invites the audience to come closer, but security starts hitting the audience who do so.
* A funny moment when Cohen pours out his heart to an interviewer (about how he disgraced himself at the Frankfurt show) only to discover that the interviewers tape recorder captured none of it.
* A woman trying to pick Cohen up back stage
* Cohen forgetting the words to Suzanne during the first verse, and improvising a song called "I'm The Man Who Wrote Suzanne"
* Crowd members asking for their money back ..
* Cohen so emotionally wasted at the end of a performance that he cannot return for an encore (despite the band coaxing and encouraging him.
The film "Bird on a Wire" premiered on July 5, 1974 in London, but was never broadly distributed. There was a suggestion that Leonard was not happy with the film for various reasons, one of which was that it showed him too emotionally exposed.
It should be noted that the version that premiered (and which this recording is sourced from) was already edited from the original version produced by Palmer, at the instruction of Leonard's lawyer (to remove content that might be seen as controversial).
It is currently believed that neither the film maker nor anybody connected with Leonard Cohen has a copy of the original film, although it was recently discovered that a copy exists in the British National Film Archive. There is also a low-quality n-th generation video copy in circulation (from which a few segments have been posted to YouTube).
If you own an original print, or know someone who does ... I would urge you to try to get in touch with either the film maker or the LC fan community -- many people want this preserved for posterity.
Last Changed By
Dan Anderson
Click 'Edit Show' or the 'Set I(II)(III)' or 'Comment' text to make corrections.
If this is a duplicate or incorrect entry and should be merged, use the Request Merge page.
If this is a duplicate or incorrect entry and should be merged, use the Request Merge page.